Bridge PUP Recommendation

[Ted]

Hello Fellow Faithful HFCers,

Due to my bridge PUP going bad in my Washburn Pilsen I am on the hunt for a replacement.

I am well covered in the SD '59, SD Custom, and SD Custom, Custom Department.

I am looking to add a little more snarl, bite, and rawer tone in the replacement PUP. Angus Tones have been swirling in my head today after I realized my old PUP was dead.

Also, the Pilsen has gold hardware including gold PUP covers. I'd really like to end up with a PUP that can be covered in the gold PUP cover.

I am pretty much a novice in the PUP department so your help, and advice would be much appreciated.

And Finally, I was hoping for not breaking the bank with the new PUP.

Thanks in advance,

~Chi Town Ted

[RobB]

Hopefully, zenmindbeginner will post on this topic. He really knows pickups. Sold me a pair of Dimarzio "Area" Strat p/us that really work great in my YJM.

Angus once said he rarely uses the neck pickup. Instead, he'll pick closer to the fingerboard to mellow the sound a bit.

As a general rule, p/us with Alnico magnets (2s/5s) will have a mellower sound, depending on how hot they are wound. Ceramic mags (Gibson Dirty Fingers, et al) usually find their way into hotter pickups that have more "bite" and a brasher sound.

I'm not big on hot p/us. I like to let the amps and my hands do the dirty work, and get as clean a signal as I can from the guitar. I took the DiMarzio ToneZone/Evolution out of my USA Charvel...too hot! Replaced with a SD '59n from my '95 Standard and a SD 78(EVH). I like my neck p/us to have a toney, "flute-y" sound that isn't too overdriven. If more output is needed, raise 'er up.

For a hot neck, maybe try a SD Full Shred, Screamin' Demon, Duncan Distortion or the above-mentioned Evolution? murkat has a great deal on a Full Shred set on the FS board.

[Ted]

Hopefully, zenmindbeginner will post on this topic. He really knows pickups. Sold me a pair of Dimarzio "Area" Strat p/us that really work great in my YJM.

Angus once said he rarely uses the neck pickup. Instead, he'll pick closer to the fingerboard to mellow the sound a bit.

As a general rule, p/us with Alnico magnets (2s/5s) will have a mellower sound, depending on how hot they are wound. Ceramic mags (Gibson Dirty Fingers, et al) usually find their way into hotter pickups that have more "bite" and a brasher sound.

I'm not big on hot p/us. I like to let the amps and my hands do the dirty work, and get as clean a signal as I can from the guitar. I took the DiMarzio ToneZone/Evolution out of my USA Charvel...too hot! Replaced with a SD '59n from my '95 Standard and a SD 78(EVH). I like my neck p/us to have a toney, "flute-y" sound that isn't too overdriven. If more output is needed, raise 'er up.

For a hot neck, maybe try a SD Full Shred, Screamin' Demon, Duncan Distortion or the above-mentioned Evolution? murkat has a great deal on a Full Shred set on the FS board.

Rob, Thanks for the info. I mistakenly put "Neck" PUP recommendation in the original post. I have corrected the Title after reading your post.

Btw Regarding Angus, does he use the stock SG PUPs originally outfitted on his SG, or something different? Ted

[RobB]

Btw Regarding Angus, does he use the stock SG PUPs originally outfitted on his SG, or something different? Ted

Y'know, that's a really good question. My impression is that he's not really a "gear guy", and probably just uses what's stock. I imagine he's more picky about the electronics actually WORKING and not shorting out from thirty years of road abuse and gallons of perspiration. I'd imagine original PAFs sound just fine, LOL!

He's pretty cagey about his gear, which I interpret as he's not that interested in that stuff. He's said for years he uses a couple of JTM 45s with 2/4x12s under the stage. But, when I teched for them at Oakland Coliseum for the "Black Ice" tour he had Boogie heads/preamps/poweramps in a rack offstage with the wireless units. Coupla stage cabs behind the scenic backdrops and cabs mic'ed up backstage in iso booths. Malcolm had Wizard 100w heads.

I'd actually be interested in how he tweaks his guitars, but would probably be disappointed with how "stock" his stuff actually is. Spent a good portion of Friday watching Bon-era DVDs and his glorious sound seems to be LOUD Marshall plexis, volume knob and fingers. His sound got more distorted with the JMP master volume stacks, i.e, "Let There Be Rock", "Rock Goes to College" era.

Regarding your OP, I think the above suggestions are fine for bridge p/us, too. Check out Bare Knuckles, too. Their hotter models get good marks from rock players.

[murkat]

snarl, bite, Gibson Burstbucker.

[Punkavenger]

Rio Barbecue or muy grande

[Ted]

snarl, bite, Gibson Burstbucker.

Jay, What would a Burstbucker run? And, Where would the best place to purchase one be? ~Ted

[murkat]

they are all over on the used price, TGP, ebay, etc.

for the bridge, a BB2. earlyer the better(for your requirement), small decal sticker "wound by PS", BB2 & hand written intials.

$45. to $50. bucks, average coin for a used pup.

[LordOfTheThighs]

But, when I teched for them at Oakland Coliseum for the "Black Ice" tour he had Boogie heads/preamps/poweramps in a rack offstage with the wireless units. Coupla stage cabs behind the scenic backdrops and cabs mic'ed up backstage in iso booths. Malcolm had Wizard 100w heads.

That's interesting.

I just assumed that Angus and Malcolm used the Berlin Wall sized Marshall line for their sound.

While snooping around for some info, I ran across this cool totally unrelated pic.

[murkat]

way right...

omg.

[zenmindbeginner]

Thanks a bunch RobB and I'll try and keep this as short as possible.

The pickup sound of ACDC is Malcolm's bridge Filtertron and Angus' various SG's he's used throughout the years. * as a side note, Angus uses that old Schaffer-Vega wireless system as coloration in his sound.

So, the rhythm sound of ACDC is primarily Malcolm's Filtertron equipped Gretsch but the lead tone is all Angus.

Angus has used several SG guitars throughout his career. Prior to 1967, Gibson would use A2, A3, A4 and A5 magnets sort of indiscriminately in their humbucker pickups (PAF).

But in 1967, Gibson then sort of standardized to A5 for a while. They would still use A2 from time to time. The current Gibson "PAF" is the Classic '57 pickup which has an A2 magnet.

Angus used the stock PAFs in his SGs when recording his iconic canon of epic blues solos.

The Angus Young pickup that Gibson sells is NOT anything close to what Angus used in the studio. It is a 43AWG wind with an A5 magnet (prolly degaussed) and Angus only used 42AWG winds in the studio.

A5 will need a mid boost of some sort... A2 will pretty much get you there without any need to change the color.

Most likely, at least 75% of the Angus solos were done with an A5 PAF and the mid boost of the Schaffer-Vega wireless system.

[Ted]

"Most likely, at least 75% of the Angus solos were done with an A5 PAF and the mid boost of the Schaffer-Vega wireless system."

ZMB, What PUPs out their today would be close to the above?

[bubs_42]

Angus likes and has used the Seymour Pearly Gates with an Alnico V Mag swap in or as its come to know as the Pearly Gates Plus. I tried to look up the wire spec's and such but had little sucess. Murkat or Zen know i'm sure.

[The Shark]

I've grown increasingly fond of the Rio Grande TX (Texas). It's Dave Wintz' PAF. Not overwound and not too much top. Rio Grande recommends the BBQ in the bridge, but I think this is the best PAF style pickup I've found for the bridge position. If you want to try one, I can mail it to you. If you don't like it, you can mail it back. If you like it, you can send me $60. Time is not critical. Thanks.

[Armitage]

snarl, bite, Gibson Burstbucker.

Just don't confuse them with Burstbucker Pros (hate'm).

[zenmindbeginner]

"Most likely, at least 75% of the Angus solos were done with an A5 PAF and the mid boost of the Schaffer-Vega wireless system."

ZMB, What PUPs out their today would be close to the above?

Well, you will want to keep the 42AWG wire wind, so anything much over 9K is out.

The Schaffer-Vega system added compression and a boost to the midrange of a 7-7.5K PAF wind.

As far as magnet is concerned... I wouldn't waste time with polished A5 magnets, but would go with a roughcast A2.

The wind should be bumped up to around 8-9K... so with that in mind, here are some suggestions from SD, since they do a great job of Gibson replacements compared to DiMarzio.

1). Alnico Pro II

2). Pearly Gates

3). '59 bridge with A2 swap.

I'd take the polished A2 mags out of (1) and (2) and replace with roughcast personally.

The roughcast Alnico 2 magnets are to replicate the mid boost and compression of the Schaffer-Vega.

But, if I were trying to get the Angus sound... I would call Jim Wagner at WCR pickups.

Have this thread handy and talk with him a bit about Angus' tone and winding something that will get you to replicate an old Gibson PAF from an SG while bumping the midrange compression up a bit to replicate the Schaffer-Vega.

You can bump the midrange up with winding more wire but the inductance of the pickup will go up making it subsequently darker sounding... Angus sound has a lot of snap to it with a very articulate attack (hallmark of a low inductance humbucker).

Lots of ways to go about it.

[Ted]

"Most likely, at least 75% of the Angus solos were done with an A5 PAF and the mid boost of the Schaffer-Vega wireless system."

ZMB, What PUPs out their today would be close to the above?

Well, you will want to keep the 42AWG wire wind, so anything much over 9K is out.

The Schaffer-Vega system added compression and a boost to the midrange of a 7-7.5K PAF wind.

As far as magnet is concerned... I wouldn't waste time with polished A5 magnets, but would go with a roughcast A2.

The wind should be bumped up to around 8-9K... so with that in mind, here are some suggestions from SD, since they do a great job of Gibson replacements compared to DiMarzio.

1). Alnico Pro II

2). Pearly Gates

3). '59 bridge with A2 swap.

I'd take the polished A2 mags out of (1) and (2) and replace with roughcast personally.

The roughcast Alnico 2 magnets are to replicate the mid boost and compression of the Schaffer-Vega.

But, if I were trying to get the Angus sound... I would call Jim Wagner at WCR pickups.

Have this thread handy and talk with him a bit about Angus' tone and winding something that will get you to replicate an old Gibson PAF from an SG while bumping the midrange compression up a bit to replicate the Schaffer-Vega.

You can bump the midrange up with winding more wire but the inductance of the pickup will go up making it subsequently darker sounding... Angus sound has a lot of snap to it with a very articulate attack (hallmark of a low inductance humbucker).

Lots of ways to go about it.

ZMD, You definitely are the Pick Up Man!

Also, As you pointed out that Angus Sound has a lot of snap to it with a very articulate attack-These characteristics are what I'm looking for the most. I'm not trying to obtain the "exact" Tone Angus has, but a PUP that has the best of Angus' Tone. So I am going to look into the Alnico Pro II, Pearly Gates, and the Rio Grande Texas that The Shark recommended.

Thanks so much ZMD!!!

[Ted]

And Big Thanks also go out to Jay, Bubs, Rob B, Punkavenger, and The Shark!!!

The ever relentless pursuit of Great Tone continues!

~Ted (aka. Chit Town Ted)

[zenmindbeginner]

If The Shark is willing to send you the BBQ and let you send it back if you don't jive with it... I'd start there.

The BBQ Bucker is a fairly full bobbin 43AWG wind which can be a bit dark like a Custom 5 but, depending on your set-up and amp settings, it might work for you.

[Ted]

I've grown increasingly fond of the Rio Grande TX (Texas). It's Dave Wintz' PAF. Not overwound and not too much top. Rio Grande recommends the BBQ in the bridge, but I think this is the best PAF style pickup I've found for the bridge position. If you want to try one, I can mail it to you. If you don't like it, you can mail it back. If you like it, you can send me $60. Time is not critical. Thanks.

Shark, I have "access" to SD Alnico Pro II, and a Pearly Gates PUPS locally. It'll take me a while to get these in, and tested. If after these don't do the trick I would like to try your Rio Grande TX(Texas) out. Thanks, Ted U

[The Shark]

I've grown increasingly fond of the Rio Grande TX (Texas). It's Dave Wintz' PAF. Not overwound and not too much top. Rio Grande recommends the BBQ in the bridge, but I think this is the best PAF style pickup I've found for the bridge position. If you want to try one, I can mail it to you. If you don't like it, you can mail it back. If you like it, you can send me $60. Time is not critical. Thanks.

Shark, I have "access" to SD Alnico Pro II, and a Pearly Gates PUPS locally. It'll take me a while to get these in, and tested. If after these don't do the trick I would like to try your Rio Grande TX(Texas) out. Thanks, Ted U

Just let me know. I'm not actively selling it, so it'll probably be around.

[Ted]

I've grown increasingly fond of the Rio Grande TX (Texas). It's Dave Wintz' PAF. Not overwound and not too much top. Rio Grande recommends the BBQ in the bridge, but I think this is the best PAF style pickup I've found for the bridge position. If you want to try one, I can mail it to you. If you don't like it, you can mail it back. If you like it, you can send me $60. Time is not critical. Thanks.

Shark, I have "access" to SD Alnico Pro II, and a Pearly Gates PUPS locally. It'll take me a while to get these in, and tested. If after these don't do the trick I would like to try your Rio Grande TX(Texas) out. Thanks, Ted U

Just let me know. I'm not actively selling it, so it'll probably be around.

Cool. Thanks, ~Ted

[Biz Prof]

Zombie thread resurrection....

I am quickly tiring of the overwound, hot, moderately compressed tone of the Dimarzio Evolution humbucker that the previous owner of my Centaura installed. What I think I want is a slightly goosed, yet more traditional low(er)-wind sound like the original ~10.5K Slammers. When I watch (professionally produced) video demos, I find certain SD models appealing; namely the Screamin' Demon and Pearly Gates. The Demon, in particular, sounded very nice when split, which is what I would do with the sweet switch during a swap.

Do any of you with a classic rock background use any of these or something similar from the AlNiCo II/V family in an alder-bodied, Floyded bolt-on like a Centaura? Any recommendations based on actual experience?

[murkat]

WCR murkat spcl.

Duncan custom 5

[Disturber]

I put a Custom Custom in my Centaura and it just smoked.

The guitar sounded totally incredible. I sold it. My dumb, dumb ass. One of few guitars I REALLY regret selling.